APPEARANCES,
PLS.: Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk, LightSquared. You are the
proverbial bull in a china shop, aren’t you dear.

You seem shocked, shocked, that dispatching political contributions to the
White House’s party whilst seeking a White House audience can be possibly
perceived of as inappropriate. Doesn’t everybody do that, you wonder? Well of
course they do, dear, but you don’t do it on the very same day, as your
executives reportedly did. Twice. Obsequious overtures should come no sooner
than three months after equal contributions are made to both parties. All
under-the-table dealings should be carried out at social receptions or on golf
courses by trusted emissaries. And never, ever email a “thank you.” Email is so
déclassé and, well, obtainable.

Such delicate fellowship requires a more artful approach. One must execute a
substantial favor for someone who cannot be traced back to oneself, and then
said someone arranges a little something for the beneficiary-in-chief.
Absolutely no gift cards from Target or Trader Joe’s. If you really want to
make that lasting impression, think more along the lines of a swing vote.

But alas, LightSquared, given that you’ve already executed those awkward gift
cardlike maneuvers, your best tactic is donning a cloak of invisibility. Lay
low until the chatter passes, and ixnay on disparaging your adversaries. You
might have noticed that they consist of nearly everyone in the known solar
system. And how might that be? Have you seen anyone looking at a map, lately,
dear? Not likely.

That is because we all rely on GPS devices to get us to the Four Seasons for a
flute of Piper-Heidsieck. Your proposed broadband network that is entirely
unrelated to that aforementioned political contribution causes us instead to
arrive at Lefty’s Wander Inn, home of the Schlitz cocktail. Part of your
strategy for resolving this dilemma is to blame GPS devices for not being able
to adequately reject your network’s signals. This is a bit like saying that you
did not hit your little sister, but that she walked into your balled fist. She
may have been torching your life’s work at the time, but note how this no
longer matters after you’ve taken the low road.

Now your social faux pas have landed you smack in the middle of partisan
politics from which there is generally no escape. Whether or not you have a
brilliant idea is no longer relevant. Whether or not your network could blanket
the entire country with super-fast wireless broadband service hardly matters at
this point. Whether or not you have a 10 cent part that could solve everything
means little. What matters now is how you are perceived. Your name is fast
becoming synonymous with political scandal. There is really only one thing left
to do.

The FAA’s current rules and proposed ban on flight over people, requirement of visual line of sight and restriction on nighttime flying, effectively prohibit broadcasters from using UAS for newsgathering. ~ WMUR-TV General Manager Jeff Bartlett